Germs lurk everywhere, They are present yet not seen without a microscope. Raising awareness to be mindful when hands touch items out in the community. Harmful germs enjoy hitching a ride. Hand Hygiene (hand washing) remains the #1 prevention of spreading germs.
C Diff Foundation welcomes Dr. Mark Davis, ND - Fecal Microbiota Transplant Committee Chairperson.
Dr. Davis graduated with honors in research from the National College of Natural Medicine, the nation’s oldest CNME-accredited Naturopathic Medical School. He is licensed by the Oregon Board of Naturopathic Medicine, and a member of the American Association of Naturopathic Physicians and the Oregon Association of Naturopathic Physicians.
Dr. Davis resides in Portland, Oregon and is Medical Director of the Good Life Medicine Center. Dr. Davis utilizes Fecal Microbiota Transplants to treat multiple occurrences of C. diff. infections and C. diff colitis. Along with treating C. diff infections - his practice focuses on Allergies/Food Sensitivities, Gastrointestinal (IBS, Crohn’s, UC, etc.), General Practice Treatment Modalities Offered: Botanical Medicine, Clinical Nutrition, Homeopathy, Naturopathic Manipulation.
We appreciate Dr. Davis’s professional support while sharing helpful information with others.
Welcome Dr. Mark Davis,ND!!
In the news:
A possible scientific breakthrough in treating the Clostridium difficile bacterial infection: Researchers from the University of Leicester in England may have discovered a more potent, and seemingly unlikely, treatment for these highly infectious bacteria: viruses.
Dr. Martha Clokie, from the University of Leicester’s department of infection, immunity and inflammation, stated, “(Researchers) haven’t really found C. diff phages before, partly because they looked in the wrong places,” “We know C. diff to be a gut pathogen, causing huge problems in hospital settings, but it also has a strong presence in environmental settings… And wherever you find bacteria in a natural environment, you will almost always find viruses (that target them).” “When we add the viruses to the bacteria, the bacteria die in petri dishes,” Clokie said. “We can also grow gut cells on plates, infect our gut cells with C. diff, and show that adding these viruses gets rid of theC. diff.”
Dr. Clokie had also stated in this interview: “It’d be like an oral pill – a little capsule of viruses. It’d allow viruses to pass through the stomach, degrade at that point and access C. diff where it needs to. We’re at an exciting stage for this; we’re not quite there yet, but we’re in an exciting place.”
Dr. Clokie, and her research team, have partnered with the AmpliPhi Biosciences Corporation, a U.S.-based biopharmaceutical company that specializes in the development of phage-based treatments for bacterial infections.
Through their partnership, they have patented Clokie’s virus mixture, hoping to develop it further into a viable treatment option.
To read the article in its’ entirety please click on the link below:
We take this opportunity to welcome Dr. Allison Siebecker,ND,MSOM,LAc to the C Diff Foundation Board of Directors.
Dr. Allison Siebecker, ND, MSOM, LAc, has worked in the nutritional field since 1988 and is a 2005 graduate of The National College of Natural Medicine (NCNM) where she earned her Doctorate in Naturopathic Medicine and her Masters in Oriental Medicine. In 2005 and 2013, she received the Best in Naturopathy award from the Townsend Letter for her articles “Traditional Bone Broth in Modern Health and Disease”(2005) and “Small Intestine Bacterial Overgrowth: Often Overlooked Cause of IBS” (2013).
After practicing primary care, functional endocrinology and facial rejuvenation acupuncture, she took a sabbatical to study small intestine bacterial overgrowth (SIBO). Currently, Dr Siebecker is instructor of Advanced Gastroenterology at NCNM in Portland, OR, where she specializes in the treatment of SIBO at the NCNM Clinic.
Dr Siebecker is the author of the educational website siboinfo.com, teaching continuing education classes for physicians and is writing a book synthesizing the SIBO data into one source.
PUNCH™ CD Study Is Currently Enrolling Patients In A Clinical Trial For The Treatment Of Recurrent Clostridium difficile Infection
Could lead to the development of a new class of drugs based on the human microbiome
Now Enrolling
The PUNCH™ CD study, sponsored by Rebiotix Inc., is now enrolling subjects. This study represents Rebiotix progress toward developing and commercializing a new therapy to treat patients with recurrent episodes of debilitating and potentially life-threatening Clostridium difficile infection (CDI).
Purpose
The purpose of the PUNCH CD study is to assess the safety of RBX2660 (microbiota suspension) for the treatment of recurrent Clostridium difficile-associated diarrhea (CDAD).
What is CDAD?
Symptoms of Clostridium difficile infection include profuse watery diarrhea, abdominal pain and tenderness, fever and loss of appetite. The term for the diarrhea resulting from Clostridium difficile bacteria is CDAD.
What is RBX2660?
RBX2660 is a preparation of live microbes that is being studied to see if it safely treats recurrent CDAD.
Similar microbial treatments have been used in the past, but RBX2660 is the first standardized and commercially prepared microbiota restoration therapy (MRT) for the treatment of recurrent CDAD. As such, it represents a milestone in translating knowledge about the human microbiome into a drug for human use.
Why is the PUNCH CD Study Important?
Although clinicians have prepared similar products using a variety of methods to treat recurrent Clostridium difficile infection for many years, the PUNCH CD study is the first time that a standardized commercially manufactured biological drug containing live microbes is being evaluated.
Study Design
PUNCH CD is an open-label, non-randomized study. That means that all clinicians and patients in the study will know that RBX2660 is being given and that all patients in the study will receive RBX2660. Approximately 40 patients will be enrolled in the study, which will continue until all patients have completed six months of follow-up.
Which Healthcare Centers are Participating?
Approximately 20 centers in the US and Canada are participating in the study.
Who is Eligible to Participate?
In brief, the target patient population is adults (≥ 18 years old) with recurrent CDAD who have had:
• At least two recurrences of CDAD (at least three episodes) and have completed at least two rounds of oral antibiotic therapy.
Or
• Have had at least two episodes of severe CDAD resulting in hospitalization.
Why Participate in a Clinical Study?
People participate in clinical studies for many reasons. These include having the opportunity to:
• Receive a new, potentially helpful, research treatment before it is available commercially.
• Receive care at a leading healthcare center during the study.
• Help others with a similar condition.
• Help advance medical knowledge.
Where can I Learn More?
Additional information on the PUNCH CD study can be found at: http://www.clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT01925417?term=Rebiotix&rank=1
About Rebiotix
Rebiotix Inc. is a biotechnology company founded to revolutionize the treatment of challenging gastrointestinal diseases by harnessing the power of the human microbiome. The company has developed a unique biopharmaceutical platform called Microbiota Restoration Therapy. Lead product RBX2660 is targeted at recurrent Clostridium difficile, a life-threatening largely hospital-acquired infection.
Visit Rebiotix on the Web at: http://www.rebiotix.com
How to be a resistance fighter? Limit the use of Antibiotics!
Understand that antibiotics are only effective against bacteria and not viruses: colds, flu and most coughs are caused by viruses and will get better on their own.
Treat your flu and cold symptoms and let your immune system fight the virus. Antibiotics will not help you get better quickly, and may give you side effects such as diarrhea and thrush. They can also lead to acquired C. diff. infections.
They won’t stop your virus spreading to other people only YOU can do that with good hand hygiene.
Don’t ask for antibiotics , instead ask your doctor about the best way to treat your symptoms. If you are prescribed antibiotics ask your doctor about the risks and benefits and always take them exactly as prescribed.
Never take someone else’s antibiotics, always speak with your Primary Care Physician (PCP) or healthcare professional when symptoms linger or worsen.
Let us all take the “Resistance Fighter” Pledge and feel free to share it with everyone you know:
I will not expect antibiotics for colds and flu as they have no effect on viruses.
I will take antibiotics as directed IF I am prescribed them, and not ask for them.
I will practice good hygiene, making hand washing #1, and help stop giving germs a free ride.
Now we can ALL spread knowledge, not infections and encourage others to join the fight against antibiotic resistance.
New breakthrough with Antibiotics and treating infections:
Glowing Antibiotic can locate the infection: An image of a mouse injected with hind limb infections (blue) and then a fluorescent variant of the antibiotic vancomycin (red). Credit: Ed Lim
Low doses of a fluorescent antibiotic can accurately track bacterial infection in real-time, such as Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli, which were detected in the mouse seen above.
Quoted: “To track the accuracy of the antibiotic, both strains of bacteria were engineered to be bioluminescent (in blue in photo above).”
Video: How To Spot an Infection:
To read the article in its’ entirety click on the link below:
